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Just a millimeter or two.

jbybj

jbybj

Supporting Member
Jun 11, 2008
6,808
16,379
Los Angeles
#1
I am putting the last touches on a fretless custom that I have refinished, and was reminded of how a bass can go from somewhat clumsy and not that inspiring, to that elusive, "just feels right" in your hands, with the smallest of adjustments.

Filed down the nut slots, just a millimeter or two. Lowered the bridge, just a millimeter or two. Raised the pup, just a millimeter or two. And in the past, made a quarter turn adjustment to the trussrod. These small changes brought the feel of the bass to "a whole nuther level".

The reason I post this is because I went many years, (pre-internet) before I truly understood the importance of a good setup. So for those of you to whom this is not old news, take the time to DIY or find a good tech. you will be glad you did.
 
#3
I think one of the signs of a good musician is knowing everything about your instrument, including from a technical angle. I do all my own setups now and I can't imagine not being able to make necessary adjustments when I need to.

I love the freedom of not having to explain to tech guys why I "need" my strings so low as though I've broken a law, I can just set it up myself! :spit:
 
#5
+1

I just did another round of learning and trial run of setup on my bass this weekend.

Loosened the neck a 1/4 turn....tweaked action on the bridge on 3 strings out of 5...lowered the nut just a tad...actually a teeny bit too far and got a little buzzing around fret 7 and backed off a quarter turn on the wick adjustable nut...checked the height on the pickups...it was a little canted.

If I took every adjustment I made and added then all up it wouldve been less than 3/16ths of an inch. Yet playability was palpably better. Plucking was grabbing the strings more precisely...just a little less left hand fatigue after practicing.

Certainly made me realize that it's time to get some better measuring aids.

This Sticky under Hardware setup and repair had everything I needed.
 
#6
J. Crawford said:
How do you learn to do a setup? Im sick of paying for them.. Too much cash.
Click to expand...

I'd start with a bass you don't use to much. Give it a shot. The only thing you could really mess up is the truss rod, overturning it will cause it to strip out or do damage to the neck. Like the op said a little at a time, a millimeter isn't much. Unless you build then it's a bunch.
 
#7
J. Crawford said:
How do you learn to do a setup? Im sick of paying for them.. Too much cash.
Click to expand...

You go for it!

I leaned by taking my bass apart and mucking about with things. Once you've got it back together again, loosen off the truss rod - a couple of turns and see what it does. Tighten up a turn - observe - and then take it back to where you were and turn it up half a turn and see what happens! Same goes for the bridge lower it or the saddles until you get buzzing and then take it up a bit, etc., etc. Get a good tuner and muck around with the bridge saddles - move them back and forward and see what that does to the tuning on the 12 fret, it will get sharper as the string gets shorter and vice-versa.

Now mix it all up, as with anything practice and you should do ok! The key for me with practical stuff is trial and error.

At the end of the day if you can't get it back to where you want, take it to your tech and then you'll appreciate why you pay him $50! Get it right and think of all those $50 you'll save adding up to some new gear!

Edit: One thing about the truss rod: don't be scared of it! Loosening is but count the turns so you can get back to where you started. When you're tightening it is a good rule never to force it! If it get's stiff it's giving you feedback!
 
#8
I'm no pro, but I like how I set up my basses. Took me taking apart one, reading a lot on the forums, and finally breaking down and asking my guitar teacher to show me. He didn't do that good of a job unfortunentally, but showed me how to balance all the points.

One thing I have found that makes a HUGE difference is shimming your neck. To make the neck go away from the guitar at slightly a different angle can change everything. (I don't shim away, I only add, I use cut up peices of index cards folded in half.) Took me about 8 months of thinking and reading to come up with that one!
 

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